Medical personnel are at a significant risk of contracting a communicable disease from a patient, as a result of the transfer of infectious material through an inadvertent needle puncture. There are a number of documented cases of the transmission of AIDS, Hepatitis B and other blood borne diseases, resultant from the transfer of blood or other body fluids through an accidental needle puncture occuring in the course of a medical procedure. The problem of needle punctures is particularly significant in a surgical setting, and it has been documented that inadvertent needle punctures occur in as many as 40% of all operative procedures.
The prior art has implemented a number of approaches to preventing or minimizing disease transmission resultant from needle puncture; however, none of these approaches have proven satisfactory. Presently, many surgical personnel employ double gloving wherein two latex gloves are placed on each hand. This approach provides some resistance to needle punctures; however, in view of the fact that the surgical gloves are quite thin, the extra protection resultant therefrom is fairly minimal. A number of surgeons often employ cut resistant undergloves fabricated from a metal, or high strength polymer, mesh. These gloves can prevent scalpel cuts, but the open structure thereof provides little protection from needle penetration. In addition, such mesh gloves are relatively thick and limit tactile sensations, which can be quite important in surgery.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,942,626 and 5,187,815 both disclose puncture resistant gloves which are preferably fabricated from cabretta leather, which is a soft leather prepared from the skins of hairy sheep. Both patents also note that other materials such as calfskin, buckskin and kangaroo leather, as well as urethane resin impregnated fabric may be utilized to provide puncture resistance. Gloves of this construction must be made relatively thick in order to provide a sufficient degree of puncture resistance. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,200,263 and 5,368,930 both disclose gloves fabricated from elastomeric material having relatively rigid, puncture resistant plates embedded therein. Presence of the plates limits the flexibility of the gloves, decreases tactility and complicates manufacture. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,335,373 and 5,357,636 disclose yet another approach to the problem, wherein a dual layered glove structure is provided which has an antibiotic material disposed between the two glove layers. In the instance of puncture, the antibiotic is released so as to sterilize the wound site.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing, that there is a significant need for a protective glove for preventing or minimizing needle puncture of a health care worker's hand, and that the prior art has implemented a number of approaches thereto. The structures of the prior art have not provided a satisfactory solution to this need. Gloves of the prior art are fairly complex in structure, which makes them difficult and expensive to fabricate and hard to use. In addition, the prior art gloves are relatively thick and tend to limit tactile sensations.
It will therefore be appreciated that there is a need for a glove which can function to protect a health care worker from needle punctures, and that, in addition to being effective, the glove should be relatively thin so as to preserve tactile sensation. In addition, the glove should be simple in construction, easy to fabricate, and low in cost. The present invention, as will be described in greater detail herein below, is directed to a simple, lowcost glove structure which effectively prevents needle punctures. It has been found, in accord with the present invention, that certain leathers, prepared from the skin of cartilaginous fishes (chondrichthyes) are surprisingly resistant to needle puncture, and may be used to fabricate protective gloves. As will be described in greater detail herein below, these gloves are light in weight, thin and highly effective. These and other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent from the drawings, discussion and description which follows.